Writing a blog about writing a book about old cowboy movies.

The U.S. Civil War Began 151 Years Ago Today.

Fort Sumter in Charleston, SC was fired upon on April 12, 1861 — kicking off the War Between The States. Growing up in the Deep South, and sitting here today in Raleigh, NC, it’s hard to believe it happened here. But it did, and there are monuments in many towns and stories in many families to prove it — my wife’s not-sure-how-many-greats-grandfather was left to rot in the Union prison at Point Lookout, often listed as the worst of the Northern POW camps.

So here’s John Wayne in The Horse Soldiers (1959) to commemorate this less-than-wonderful anniversary. For some reason, I’ve always loved this particular still from this unjustly maligned film. (Click the photo to enlarge it — there’s a lot to see.) A good way to mark this occasion on this blog seems to be with something from John Ford, by all accounts a huge Civil War buff.

Saw a piece the other day about how many (young) people don’t realize that the Titanic tragedy actually happened, thinking it’s just this overblown James Cameron movie. (“OMG, there was a real Titanic!?”) So, just to clarify — the Civil War really happened. It was a truly terrible time in U.S. history. And John Wayne did not fight in it.

By the way, my daughter is currently building a model of the H.L. Hunley out of a paper towel roll. It’s still in drydock, but what I’ve seen of it is pretty cool.

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9 Responses

Good comment. In some ways that War never ended. Its legacy lingers in the romance of rebellion and red-and-blue-state national politics. While Hollywood may have given us westerns mostly sympathetic to the Union, western writers have often ranked themselves among the Confederates. It’s worth remembering that Owen Wister’s cowboy hero was from Virginia.

It is a beautiful still–and of course the image in color shows off even more William Clothier’s beautiful cinematography but even in black and white you can see Ford’s sense of light and composition and all the drama he can get into a single image.

I guess THE HORSE SOLDIERS has been at time “unfairly maligned” but I would say not so much among Ford aficionados. For me, it was when I saw that particular film on first release that I resolved never to miss any new Ford from that point on and I didn’t (as well as getting back eventually to all the others). So plainly it impressed me then and still does–it remains one of the best Civil War films.

Very eloquent comments about the Civil War, Toby. The personal touch there added a lot.

I’ve always liked this picture and next to The Searchers, I’ve seen it more than any other Ford.

This is one instance where my book research (and the gorgeous Blu-ray) really boosted my appreciation of a film. There have been many other examples, of course, but this is one where a picture I loved I ended up loving even more.

One of these days, I’m gonna visit some of those locations around Louisiana.

I felt the black and white image really accentuated the smoke, so I went with it.

You kinda get the feeling in that film that Ford had ideas for how to shoot certain Civil War things in his head that had been taking shape for decades. Clothier’s work in that one is terrific, even without the benefit of Technicolor.

“You kinda get the feeling in that film that Ford had ideas for how to shoot certain Civil War things in his head that had been taking shape for decades.”

It’s surely the case. The film has a very disinctive, highly individual look–when the Blu-ray came out, Dave Kehr talked about this in his N.Y. Times column. It’s something I felt when I first saw it (first release prints of course did full justice to it).

Alas, my own Blu-ray viewing will have to wait until I have a Blu-ray player!

Went and looked up the Dave Kehr piece you mentioned. Very good — and I like the way he writes about Sherman’s use of landscapes in his films. Having just watched The Lone Hand again, I couldn’t agree more.